Upside Down
by inukunsgirl
Summary: Konoha is destroyed with Naruto and Sakura thinking that they might be the only survivors.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter one: Heat

She sighed heavenly in the steamy haze of the bathroom. Her skin was flushed red from the extreme heat of the water she soaked in. She liked it hot… blazing hot; so hot that it makes her forget about the stabbing pain in her soul. Her skin was a darker shade then her cherry blossom hair and her pulse pounded in her ears. She groaned as she massaged her left shoulder muscles with her right hand. After a good stretch she lied back in the steaming bathtub with the foam of bubbles concealing her body. Then a light knock rolled on the wooden door before it opened. She lazily turned her dizzy head to watch him enter into her sauna-like atmosphere.

"Geez, Sakura…" he said. "Hot enough in here for you?" The young man entered shirtless with a pair of black sweats and went over to the toilet and lifted the seat to do his business. Sakura glared up at him.

"No, it's never hot enough… but now it's gonna smell like piss in here," she said while moving her arms over her chest to make sure that he couldn't see between her foamy blanket. She watched his back while he urinated and took note how long his hair been growing… if he didn't have the whisker marks on his cheeks, he would be the spitting image of the fourth. Of course, she is too young to have met Yondaime himself but she's seen pictures of him. He flushed the toilet and picked up a can of air freshener and sprayed flowery smog in the air before leaving the bathroom.

"Now it smells like piss flowers!" she called after him and smirked when he simply just ignored her. She and Naruto have been roommates for the past six months now at this refuge cabin deep in the density of the Leaf forest. The two of them couldn't bear to leave their broken country so they settled in this hiding for now. Before she felt like passing out, Sakura pulled the plug, lazily climbed out of the tub and wrapped a towel around her body. When she left the bathroom she entered the living/bedroom. A small, studio space they lived in but it was better than nothing. They had a sizable bathroom and a usable kitchen so it was nothing to complain about since they didn't have much money, but the one thing that Sakura wished they had money for was for an extra bed…

She watched him unfold the queen size futon on the wooden floor before she moved behind the shoji privacy screen to change into her pajamas. The first week of living with Naruto, she wouldn't let him sleep on the futon with her, but each morning she woke up with him right next to her so she got used to the idea of it. She always had to make sure there is a pillow between them or he'll tangle himself around her instead of the fluffy scapegoat. As soon as she was dressed she moved over to the kitchen counter and picked up two cups of instant ramen and handed him his. They both sat on the wooden floor across from each other eating in silence. She noticed that his face started to fade into a gloomy expression.

"Hey, Sakura…" he started. "Do you think… that we are the only ones left of Konoha?"

"I don't know…" she responded. "I'm sure that there are others out there… why are you asking?"

"I've been thinking lately that… if there are others out there then I am fully responsible for them… It's just about what Grandma Tsunade said…"

"_I'm passing my duty as Hokage to you now, Naruto… I'm sorry I couldn't protect Konoha… you are a stronger generation… there is still hope… please take care of her, my grandson…"_

"All my life… I wanted to become Hokage so I can protect my friends… but now that Konoha has been destroyed am I still considered the Hokage with no village to protect?"

"Naruto…" Sakura's heart strings began to tug at the mention of Tsunade and Konoha… the both of them lost everything and now only had each other. She felt his pain but couldn't imagine the burden he feels on his shoulders. She set her cup of ramen down and crawled over to sit next to him with an arm around him. "Hey, you are still the Hokage to me, Naruto. If they are others out there we'll find them and rebuild Konoha together." She nudged her forehead against his temple in a semi-hug.

"Thanks, Sakura…" he said with a gentle smile and leaned into her hug. He placed his food down and grabbed the pink hair girl, throwing her on the futon. "Well, Sakura, let's start repopulating the village!" He crawled over her on all fours.

"NARUTO, WHAT THE HELL?!?!" she yelled.

"You said we will rebuild Konoha together right?" he said with a grin. "We should get to work right away. You dare to deny the Hokage?"

"That's not what I meant, you moron!" She fumed and kicked him off with her superhuman strength which sent him upwards…

"NARUTOOOOOOO!!!" she growled at him. He was crouched against the ceiling with controlled chakra looking down at her chuckling. "GET DOWN HERE!!"

"Try to catch me, Sakura!" he rang as he crawled along the ceiling, down a wall and out a window.

"I'M GONNA KILL YOU!!!" she yelled while fisting her hands and leaping out the window after him. She followed him deeper into the forest and caught him by his ankles. She then hurled him into a rock formation that turned to rubble. She landed on the ground and walked over to the mess of rock to inspect it.

"Sakura-chan…" he whispered in her ear. Acting on reflex, she swung her elbow back in his direction and disabled one of his shadow clones. She felt her anger rise and burn up within her. The little prick is just toying with her. She took a deep breath and turned back home. She wasn't going to play his little game. She was going straight to bed… so she thought. Her nose crashed right into his naked torso. She glared up at him but only received a mellow gaze back until he wrapped his arms around her into a soft embrace.

"I'm sorry, Sakura… I know you hurt inside like I do… we'll make it right again… starting tomorrow we are heading to the Suna… if it's still there…" He said. How did he know she was hurting inside? She always tried to look content around him so it would be easier for him… she was bottling it up for his sake… he knew that?

"Naruto…" she whispered and closed her eyes to the paining ache in her heart… it hurts so much… she wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her face in his chest. Why… why does it hurt so much… especially when he knows? She melted into him…his warmth… against the heat of his soothing flesh.

AN: So this is my first Naruto fic… I don't own so don't be hating. Tell me what you think and let me know if it's a good one.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two: Pillow Talk

After holding each other for a few moments in silence, Sakura and Naruto retired back to their cabin. Sakura sighed as she crawled into the softness of the futon and under the sheets. Naruto crawled in after her and decided to invade her personal space again, inching closer to her. She shot him a death glare.

"Aw, come on, Sakura-chan," he said. "You don't hate me that much, do you?"

"It's not that… it's just well…" she gripped the sheets nervously with a light blush. "I'm not good with touchy feely stuff… my encounters has always been accidental…"

"Accidental?" he echoed.

"Uh… yeah… well… my first time wasn't how I pictured it…"

"WHAT?!" the blonde shot up in a shock. "You mean you've done that stuff before?! With who?!"

"Naruto, calm down!" she said. "I told you I didn't plan it that way now would you sit down and listen to me?!"

"Right, right… Sorry…" he settled back down to listen.

"Well… when I was training under Tsunade-sama," she started with a deeper blush. "I was helping Shizune create new medicine with a certain combination of special herbs and we tested it out… and, well, the side effects were disorienting… one thing lead to another and the next morning Tsunade-sama found Shizune and me sleeping butt-naked on her desk…"

Naruto gave her a puzzling look… he can't be that stupid can he?

"So… how does that work exactly? I mean… I know how it works with a guy and a girl, but…"

_He really is that stupid…._

"You don't need to know how it works…" she definitely wasn't going to explain it to him.

"Was that the only time?" he asked.

"No… I've done it a few times with…" she paused and noticed that his eyes were bugged and staring at her… her face turned beat red as the name rolled off of her lips like butter. "…Kakashi-sensei…"

"WHAT?!" Naruto yelped again. "HOW?! WHEN?! WHAT THE FUCK?! You said that you're encounters were all accidental how can a few times with Kakashi-sensei be accidental?!"

"Well the first time was accidental…" she explained. "The time when he came back from fighting Deidara… I was assigned as his night nurse and well… eh…" She noticed the odd, half-confused look on his face.

"How could you do it with an old guy like Kakashi-sensei?"

"Look… the life expectancy of a shinobi is rather short so excuse me for taking that opportunity. And Kakashi-sensei isn't that old. He's quite young and handsome under that mask."

She gave him a smug look when he realized that she discovered one of the mysteries that he was dying to find out and gave her a pouty glare. He looked adorable to her. His face soothed into a surprise expression as she giggled and traced one of the marks on his cheek before rolling into a comfy position facing away from him. He cried inside when she turned away because he wanted to know more of her adventurous "encounters". Even though it made him a little jealous… ok _really_ jealous…

"Well fine then. I guess I won't tell you the encounter I had with Ino-chan," he rang as he turned over in the opposite direction. Sakura gasped and shot up from her place.

"You are such a liar!" she rasped.

"Me? Lie? Never."

"NARUTO!!"

"Zzzzzzzzz…"

WHACK!

"OW!" The boy winced rubbed the new lump on his head as he sat up, but when he looked over Sakura was laying back down and turned away from him. He watched her soft form and sighed heavily before turning in for the night.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three: A Hokage's Duty

The morning light flooded out of the window and onto Naruto's sleeping face. He stirred a bit and eased his eyes open and felt something soft and warm up against his back. He looked down and found a feminine arm wrapped around his waist with fingers splayed out across his abs.

'Hypocrite' he thought as he chuckled lightly then tried to sit up but… she squeezed him tighter in her sleep… you know… with that superhuman strength. His eyes widened and he winced in fear of his death of having the air squeezed out of him. Ok, she wasn't hurting him but he knows what kind of strength she possessed. If he tried moving away… shit…

"S-Sakura…" he choked out of his throat while tapping on her arm to wake her. Unfortunately she just muttered and nuzzled her face against his back. He sighed in bliss though that she was holding him this way… something he only experienced in his dreams. But today is the day to work… today, he starts his official duty as the Hokage of Konoha. He was excited, scared and thrilled all at the same time. As he thought about what lies ahead of him, Sakura release he hold on him and turned over in a muttering slumber. He smiled while sitting up and leaning over his companion to nudge her awake.

"Sakura-chan, come on wake up," he called as he shook her shoulder. Of course she woke up only after pelting him in the face but she woke up nonetheless. After rubbing his nose he stood up to get ready for the day in the bathroom. Sakura sat up and stretched to revive her muscles. She reached over to her bag and pulled out a small mirror to do her hair. They didn't wear the forehead protectors anymore so they can avoid any trouble if the towns realized that they were shinobi of the destroyed village. Sakura tied her shoulder-length, pink locks into a short ponytail. As the bathroom door opened, her eyes crept up at him.

_Holy mother of Konoha…_

He was dressed in black crops and an open long orange overcoat with black symbols and fishnet tank under it that did nothing to hide his torso and abs. He also had a strip of black fabric tied around his head like a forehead protector and wooden, gaki sandals on his feet. He looked like a sage.

The sight of him made her feel something she hasn't felt since she was just a gennin. Her stomach felt like she was freefalling into an endless pit. Her cheeks burned as her thighs rubbed together in slight anxiety under the sheets. He smiled at her and quietly went outside after picking up his supply pack.

She shook off the feeling and thoughts streaming through her head as thoroughly as she could before getting dressed and ready for the day. She grabbed her supply pack and headed outside to see that he was waiting.

"Sakura," he called. "My first action as Hokage is to reestablish the connections between the Leaf and the Sand. You are my assistant from now on. Let's go find Gaara."

"Oh," she shrugged on her supply pack while looking at him in wonderment. "Y-yes, Sir."

The two of them then leaped off into the canopy of the trees with their agile speed towards the Land of the Wind.

"Medic!" The young blonde woman yelled as she crashed through the gates with a body over her shoulders. "Quickly get a medical nin, right now!" she barked at a scout. He immediately obeyed and sped down the street to call for help. The man on the girl's shoulders groaned in agony. She gently laid him down on the ground and supported his head with a hand. He was severely sunburned with dried blood on his chin, cuts and scrapes tattered his dark clothing. She quickly gave him a drink from her water gourd. His eyes slowly eased open to look at his savior.

"T-t…Temari?" he rasped out.

"Hang in there! You're going to be ok," she told him with worried eyes. The expression on her face gave him some kind of a heavenly comfort even though she did look scared.

"How…troublesome…" he whispered before his eyes closed once again in exhaustion. A moment later he was taken from Temari's arms and rushed to the emergency unit to be treated. She followed by his side.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four: Remedy

Shikamaru opened his stinging eyes to the artificial lights on the ceiling. His head was throbbing pain into the tenderest part of his skull. He turned his head and gazed upon her hunched over form. She sat in a chair with her elbows resting on her knees and her face into her hands. He watched her for a moment in silence.

"You're a sight for sore eyes…" he said. She immediately looked up at him with those dark jade pools.

"Shika…" her lips whispered and stood up to sit on the edge of the hospital bed. "What happened… what happened to Konoha?"

"There's no need for you to worry, Temari… The Akatsuki are gone now… unfortunately so is Konoha…. I don't know exactly what happened but I think it had something to do with Sasuke Uchiha. The Hokage commanded us to leave before some kind of explosion. The village is nothing but ashes now. I'm not sure if anyone survived but I was left to wander around for months until you found me in the desert… looks like you saved my butt again… I'm sorry for the trouble…"

"Don't be, it's the least I can do for you," she said. "I'm sorry about your village… its destruction has affected everyone. We've been struggling to make ends meet over here. Konoha was our main trader for certain medicines that you can't find in the desert and our medical staff doesn't know the forest too well to collect them so we've been in a rough patch."

"I see…" turned his eyes back up at the ceiling with a groan. "The Akatsuki thought they were riding the world of pain by destroying the Leaf village but it only made things worse. T-Temari… what if I'm the only one left?"

"Oh, come on, Shika…" she said while placing a hand over his. "I'm sure that you're not. The Konoha shinobi aren't that easy to kill… trust me, I've tried before." Shikamaru arched an eyebrow and smirked tiredly. He moved his hand from under hers to turn it palm up so he can hold hers back. His thumb stroked the softness of the back of her delicate but strong hand.

"You're right… If I didn't know any better, I'd say Naruto is on his way here as we speak."

"Naruto? You really think that idiot is alive?"

"He may be an idiot, but like you said, the Leaf ninja are hard to kill… especially Naruto."

"Well, in the mean time, you should concentrate on getting better," she said while standing up and heading for the door. "You still owe me a shogi match so I expect you to be in top shape when facing me."

"I'll be looking forward to it," he replied with a tired smirk as he watched her leave the room, allowing him to dose off into a peaceful slumber.

"So… Naruto, what is the plan exactly?" The pink haired girl asked while following him closely behind in the dark forest.

"We are going to meet up with Gaara and see if we can get some back up," he explained. "We're going to get to the bottom of what happened and we are going to make sure that it doesn't happen again… not on my watch."

Suna was soon at sunset, one of the desserts most beautiful features and Temari was enjoying it on the balcony of the Kazekage's mansion. She soon found that she wasn't alone however. Her youngest brother came out, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"You seem down," he said in his rough and quiet voice. "How's the Konoha shinobi?"

"He's doing much better, just sleeping now," she replied. "Gaara… do you think that the Akatsuki were in the right mind about riding this world of pain and misery?"

"In some context, yes," he said joining her side while holding his arms like he always does. "People hurt others because they are hurt inside… forever raking evil upon this world for just a few mistakes with the tailed demons that our ancestors made. The Akatsuki were arrogant, however. You can't heal wounds with more bloodshed. That is something that I've learned after fighting with Naruto… but there will always be sadness and bloodshed… all you can do is protect those who are precious to you from it."

"Yes… I know," she said. "That is why you became the Kazekage…" After a few moments of silent thought Temari spoke again. "Shikamaru said that there is a good chance that Naruto is on his way here…"

"I've had that feeling, too. I figured it was only a matter of time before he came to seek our aid… but Temari, the void of darkness is approaching… I have a feeling that things are going to get worse before they get better…"

"Hmm…"

A/N: doo doo doo! Alright I thought this was a good one. Not much Naruto and Sakura but still good. Be prepared for some hot action soon!


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Ok, folks, this chapter isn't for the light of heart. Mature content with elements of… sex, violence and rape attempt. Um, Sasuke fans beware… that's all I have to say. Don't worry I'm not bashing Sasuke, I rather like him (he's a hot stud) but at this point in the story… well his head isn't screwed on straight.

Chapter Five: Genjustu

Sakura stirred restlessly in the tent next to Naruto. She sighed and sat up in the darkness. She wasn't sure why she felt so restless… she always thought about Konoha but something kept her up from falling into her usual heartache slumber. She decided to go outside to get some fresh air in attempt to wind down and let her thoughts settle. She ventured away from the campsite to a nearby stream and cupped some water to splash over her face. She stared back at her depressed reflection of the water while she sat at the base of a tree. Her eyebrows furrowed together as her eyes caught a faint glow of red behind her.

_Sakura found herself working in the Konoha hospital late at night again. She was tired but pulled through the shift because they were short on staff that night. She entered the patient's moonlit room with a tray of medical utensils and quietly made her way over to the bed, placing the tray on the end table. She picked up a needle drew a narcotic medicine from a small bottle properly. She squirted a bit of the liquid from the needle to rid it of any air before lifting revealing the patient's arm from under the sheet. However, when she inserted the needle in his skin, he jerked on reflex and Sakura found herself face down on the hospital bed with her arm painfully held against her back and a kunai knife against her neck._

'**I know this…'**

"_It's ok… You're in the hospital, remember?" she groaned out in pain as he held her down. The kunai was removed from her neck and he only loosened the strain on her arm. Sakura then felt a strong hand start to run over the curves of her body causing a deep blush to form on her face. Her breath became shallow as he lodged a knee between her thighs and his free hand dipped in between her and the bed to under the skirt of her uniform._

"_You're a pretty little thing, aren't you…" he breathed in her ear and wiggled his fingers under her panties._

"_No, w-wait!" she protested before words left her when he began work her sensitive flesh. She couldn't speak, move, or even breathe as his expert fingers stroked gently, sending her to release uncontrollable moans from her throat. She felt his tongue slide over the shell of her ear before he sucked on her lobe._

"_I'll show you what a real shinobi can do," he whispered to her before inserting a finger inside her slowly pumping it causing her to cry out in orgasm. Her body turned limp against the mattress but she wasn't there for long. He rolled her over on her back to face him._

"…_."_

"_Sakura?" his right eye widened in surprise as his left remained shut._

"_Kakashi…" she panted out. She saw his unmasked face redden in embarrassment; she didn't know that he could blush so chronically. Even so, she was way redder than he. Despite the awkward moment, Sakura reached out to touch the smooth skin of his left cheek._

"_Your face is pretty…" she stated before attempting to sit up. He let her get off the bed and fix her ruffled uniform. She made a new dose of the medicine as he sat at the end of the bed. "Don't know why you cover it up…" He remained silent as she gave him the painkiller in his arm. She picked up her tray and headed for the door but paused to look back at him. _

"_I…. am so sorry," he told her. She smiled a bit._

"_It's ok… it was… interesting…" she replied before leaving the room quietly._

'**Why am I reliving my memories?'**

_Sakura found herself suspended up between a tree and her childhood sensei. Her breath hitched in tempo and density as he ravished her throat with heated passionate lust through his mask. She wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. She felt weird doing this with him, but it felt really good and she knew that he can deliver like a pro, but she was still unsure of herself. Her face dusted with pink as he slowly unzipped her red shirt. He took her down to lie at the base of the trunk with him. He groaned at the sight of her and brushed his palms gently over her breasts for a moment and slid them down to the hem of her shorts._

"_W-wait…" she said which caused him to pause. He looked up at her with his normal eye… he wasn't stupid… he knew she was nervous…_

"_You're still a virgin… right?" he guessed. She blushed and nodded her head. "And you are saving it for someone special…" She nodded at his correct answer again. "I figured as much… but that doesn't mean we can't have a little fun... do you trust me?" Another silent nod. "Good."_

_Kakashi grasped the hem of her shorts and pulled them off her hips along with her overskirt and underwear. She started to blush madly as she watched him stare at her down there. He looked up at her for a moment with a smile in his eye before tugging his mask down just enough so his lips can make contact with her silky depths. A sharp gasp escaped from her lips._

'**What is going on?'**

"Interesting," his voice rang in her left ear. Sakura's head started spinning into a throbbing headache and found that she was wrapped up in a pair of strong arms. "I can see your memories, Sakura… I know everything… You saved yourself for me…. Just like you said you would…"

"S-Sasuke…" she breathed with shocked eyes. She tried to move but his arms held her back against him in a tight lock. "Let me go!" she struggled against him as hard as she could but she knew that he weakened her from his genjustsu. He cooed darkly against her ear. He held her arms to her sides with one arm and grabbed the base of her jaw with his free hand forcing her to angle her neck to the side. He inhaled the sweet scent off of her throat and brought his lips back against her ear.

"You know how to play chess, right Sakura?" he breathed hotly and ran his free hand down her abdomen. She grunted and kicked out to free herself but with no avail. He hummed in his throat as he maintained his grip on her. "Tell me… how do you kill a king?"

Her next struggle actually threw his balance a little but he retaliated to taking her down to the ground so she wouldn't do it again. He pushed her down on her back, straddled her hips and pinned her arms down. His black eyes pierced into hers with a chilling intensity that ran down Sakura's spine.

"You take his queen…" he said with a dark smirk.

"No!" she screamed. "Sasuke! Get the fuck off of me!" She pushed and worked against his restraints.

"You don't want Naruto, Sakura… If you did, you would have given yourself to him already. You've been waiting for me to come back…"

"You're wrong! I don't have those feelings for you anymore, Sasuke! What you did to Konoha is unforgivable! Why did you do it?!"

"…"

She glared back into his eyes with anger, hurt and pity. "You don't know what you are doing…"

"I know full well what I do and don't do," he defended. "You, on the other hand, don't know what you want. I'm going to show you what you want, Sakura… I need to restore my clan and you're going to help me."

"Like hell she is."

Both Sakura and Sasuke looked in the direction of the voice. Naruto stepped out calmly from the shadows of the trees with a rasengan pulsing in his right palm. Sakura found it. She found the point when Sasuke's attention withdrew from her. He reacted too slowly to prevent her from head butting him in the face and sending him to the other side of the brook and into a large tree.

Sakura got up on her feet and stomped over to his landing site with chakra pulsing in her right clenched fist. He sat back against the base of the broken tree. The last thing Sakura saw was that smug little smirk of his before he phased off in an unknown direction.

"AUGGH!" she yelled as she released a throwing punch to an unfortunate, nearby boulder. Naruto deactivated his rasengan and approached the frustrated young woman. At first, he wasn't sure if he should say anything to her as she stood there in silent thought.

"Sakura, are you ok?" he asked as calmly as he could. She turned around and faced him.

Another moment of silence… she looked angry…

She stomped over to his direction in an matter that said 'I'm pissed and I'm gonna take it out on you'. That's what he thought anyways… She violently grabbed the chest of his shirt and yanked him towards her. She her eyebrows furrowed as she stared intensely into his scared face.

He didn't know how it happened, though. All he knew was that Sakura pressed her pink lips against his mouth.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six: Long Time No See

The morning sun started to blaze upon Suna and Temari felt like she needed a good steam in the Kazekage's personal sauna room. Gaara stood over his desk shuffling thru some papers when Temari came in the office in her bathing yukata. She walked over to the sauna room door and noticed that the room was already turned on.

"When did you turn on the sauna?" she asked him but not really expecting an answer as she opened the door. Gaara moved to speak but became reluctant do to so and watched her enter the room and shut the door.

"…"

"YEEEEEEEEIIIIIIAAAAHHHH!!!!" Temari threw the door back open and walked briskly out of the office with the reddest shade Gaara has ever seen her in. The Kazekage's lips drew to a faint smile when Shikamaru stepped out of the steam room as he finished tying a towel around his waist. He seemed rather calm as he approached the pile of clothes on a chair and fished out a cigarette from the green jounin vest. He placed the cig in between his lips and used the flame of an oil lamp that sat on Gaara's desk to light it.

After a quick puff of the tobacco, he sighed out the smoke in relief and turned to the kazekage. "I think she likes me," he thought out loud with a dainty smile and grabbed his clothes before leaving the office.

A few moments later, Kankuro came in.

"What is the report?"

"It travels so fast in the sand that I couldn't track it, but I set up some traps in the Sand Cave. The damn thing is annoying."

"Hnn…" Gaara ponders over his paperwork for a moment. "Well, if Naruto is on his way I'm sure he'll run into it eventually. And if he doesn't then I'll send a team out tomorrow to capture it."

"Naruto is alive?" the puppet master asked.

"It's not a proven fact but more of a feeling I had. So did the Leaf shinobi, Nara Shikamaru. Temari found him in our dessert half dead yesterday," Gaara responded.

"I see. Well let's hope for the best. I'll be going off duty now, if you don't mind."

"Hn.." Gaara nodded to his older brother while searching for a certain document. "I'll have another mission set up for you tomorrow. Give this to Temari when you see her. It's the chunnin exam arrangements." The Kazekage handed him the document before excusing him and sat back in his chair staring into nothing when Kankuro left him alone.

Naruto couldn't stop looking at her while they started to cut thru the dessert. He'd make sure he knew where he was stepping but he just couldn't take his eyes off of the woman that ran by his side. She would look back at him from the corner of her eye but would quickly face away from him shyly. It wasn't too long before she started to get annoyed.

"Naruto, quit it!" she commanded. "Don't look at me like that!"

"Sorry," he said as he forced his head forward with a light blush on his face. He wanted to talk about the kiss Sakura gave him the night before but his gut told him not to… at least not until they had a chance to sit down and talk about such things. For now, the important thing to be handled is to get to the Sand Village as quickly as possible. But even so, how could she just act like nothing happened? All he could think about was those soft pink lips against his. He groaned inwardly, wanting more of her. He had to have her… he's held off for so long to make a move for his safety but now she expressed similar feelings to him, he could barely wait to explore more of this. He noticed that she slowed down and stopped completely. He stopped and looked back at her.

"Naruto…" she barely spoke. "Do….do you feel that? …Under your feet?" Naruto paused in silence and looked down to the sand below him. The whole dune under them seemed to be shifting slowly.

"Yeah… what is it?" he asked. The dune then rolled violently upward causing the two ninja to fight for their balance on the shifting sand beneath their feet. Sakura jumped back off of the dune and watched her companion clumsily fall back. Naruto's eyes widened as some kind of creature emerged from the sand. A set of claws helped it tear from under the surface in a terrible wake. Naruto shuffled back when a large…. a HUGE feline hissed and bellowed in his direction.

"A…. CAT?!"

"Naruto! Be careful!" Sakura called out to him. The cat was at least ten feet tall with tan fur and black spotty markings. It stalked a bit closure to Naruto with a growl ringing from its throat and piercing his soul with blue eyes.

"No you don't!" Sakura grabbed a hold of its tail and pulled it back with her amazing strength, giving Naruto a chance to get on his feet again. The cat yowled and dug his claws into to the sand as Sakura dragged it backwards.

"Kage Bunshin no Justu!" Naruto called and formed the appropriate hand sign to duplicate himself into five shadow clones, using them to pile onto the cat. Not a moment after, though, the large cat easily threw off most of the clones with a furious growl. The cat then turned back to lunge at the girl but was quickly evaded. As it moved, a ringing sound filled Sakura's ears and she then noticed that the cat had a collar with a bell on it. The real Naruto clutched onto the back of the red collar and noticed a golden plate attached to the leather with an inscription.

"If found, please return to Kazekage Gaara of the Sand?" he read out loud. "Fluffy?"

"This is Gaara's cat?" Sakura said. "I wonder what it's doing out here." Fluffy then started to buck violently in circles to throw Naruto off while yowling in annoyance.

"I wonder how Gaara has a pet cat named, Fluffy!" Naruto yelled as he held on the collar with all his might. "Yeeeeeeehhhhaaaaaa!"

Sakura groaned and smacked her forehead. "Baka…"

Gaara stood just outside the Suna gate staring out on the horizon. His eyes narrowed as a cloud of dust formed in the distance and approached faster with every second. He folded his arms and didn't flinch when the unusually large cat skidded to a halt in front of him. Sakura was on top of its head with a hold on each fuzzy ear and Naruto was hanging on the tail. Fluffy growled a little but Sakura corrected the unwanted behavior with a tug on an ear before sliding off the large animal.

"Whew! That was a rush." She said while flipping her hair back. Naruto plopped down on the ground with a thud. "Hope you didn't mind that we burrowed your pet to get here faster."

"I was counting on it," Gaara said and raised his hand up to pick the large feline up with a blanket of sand and carry it to an appropriate location. Naruto picked himself off the ground and approached the Kazekage.

"Gaara!" He called and hugged him. Gaara's eyes became as wide as dish plates at the physical contact. No one…. No one hugs Gaara of the Sand. Sakura twitched. Gaara made no move to kill him though after he was released.

"Hey, Gaara… what's with the big fur ball?" Naruto asked.

"She was a gift…. Temari got her for me as a joke one day. She's a rare breed of desert cats and she was just a cub at the time so I had her cared for. She's been acting rather strange lately, which is why you found her out there in the desert by herself." He explained coolly as he led the two Leaf shinobi down the main street of Suna.

"Temari has been working extra hard ever since the destruction of your village… she found one of your shinobi alive. Nara Shikamaru."

Both Naruto and Sakura's eyes lit up. "Shikamaru!"

"Where is he? Is he here?!" Naruto asked.

"He's in this village somewhere… probably in the company of my sister."

"I'm going to find him!" Naruto shouted.

"N-Naruto! Wait!" Sakura called after him but he was already gone. She sighed. Gaara turned to her and looked at her with his usual blank expression.

"You must be hungry," he said. "Follow me." He turned and headed down a small street as the medical ninja hesitantly followed him to a restaurant.

"You don't have to take me here," she modestly assured him.

"It's the least I can do for you saving Kankuro's life," he explained mundanely. "Plus I need to eat as well." Sakura blushed a little. She never knew Gaara was such a gentleman, sure he was the Kazekage…. But he also was responsible for many unnecessary murders as a child.

"Damn its hot here," the shadow bender mumbled as he tore his sweaty shirt off. Temari's eyes roamed over his torso for a moment before she forced them back down on the shogi board. It was her turn.

"You seem a bit distracted," Shikamaru said through a vent of smoke from his smirked lips, but Temari only growled angrily in her throat. She wasn't going to lose to this pineapple-headed cry baby. After a few more moments of her staring at the pieces, Shikamaru let out a menacing groan. "Would you make a move already, I'm getting old here."

"You can't rush perfection," she sang.

"How troublesome, woman…" he muttered.

"What was that?"

"Nothing, now make the move," he whined. She glared at him.

"Cry baby…"

"Demanding wench…"

"Lazy prick…"

"Crazy bitch…"

"…"

Temari grabbed his face and pulled him across the shogi board to attack his mouth with hers. His eyes widened in surprise when her tongue invaded his mouth but soon caught on and fought for dominance in the kiss. She moaned in his mouth deliciously that sent him over the edge. He stood up and leaned in at a better angle to ravish her mouth back with equal passionate frustration. Shogi pieces were spilled everywhere on the floor but they no longer cared about the game.

Shikamaru grabbed the woman in front of him and pulled her across the table to his side because it would have been too much work to break the kiss and walk around the table for him. She crawled over and straddled his lap as she continued to explore his mouth with her tongue. She kneaded the muscles of his shoulders and let her hands glide over his sweat coaxed skin. She finally pulled her mouth away from his to breathe and let her head fall back as he kissed her neck.

Naruto glowered at them from the window… 'Damn it, even Shikamaru is getting action… and he's the laziest guy I know… why me?' Naruto suddenly lost his footing and fell backwards crashing into some trashcans below the two story apartment.

The sound interrupted the passionate moment between the fan wielder and shadow bender. They both looked out towards the window. Shikamaru groaned in annoyance as he reluctantly made Temari slide off his lap. He stood up and walked over to the open window.

"Hey, Naruto," he called to the trash heap below. "Just what do you think you are doing?" Naruto chuckled and raised a hand up.

"Hey, long time so see, Shika!"

Shikamaru sighed and held his head. "How troublesome…"

AN: trying to write longer chapters please review.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven: Troublesome Women

Pain throbbed in Sakura's head as she stirred awake. She eased her eyes open and soon found that to be a mistake as the morning light from the window seared her brain into mush. She groaned and rolled away from the light but ended up bumping into a warm body. She suddenly froze.

'SHIT!'

Her memory of last night had left her… all she remembered was that she had dinner with Gaara… and sake….lots and lots of sake….

'Ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygod!!!'

She started hyperventilating into a panic. If it's one thing that Tsunade taught her…. Is that if you had too much sake and wake up in a bed that's not yours then you are in deep deep deep shit. That is how Tsunade got pregnant with the white haired perverted toad in her younger days. Sakura immediately sprang up from the sheets and stared wide-eyed at the sleeping person next to her. She couldn't identify the person because they were buried in the sheets, so she reached out a shaking hand and slowly peeled back the linen. Her eyes got even wider as spikes of blond hair emerged into view and the person began to turn towards her.

"Are you ok?" Temari groaned out in a sleepy haze. Sakura let out a heavy sigh of relief and smiled at the sand nin.

"Yeah, I'm ok… How did I get here?" she asked.

"You got drunk and drove Gaara nuts so he dumped you on me," she yawned out. "Good thing you passed out right away though."

"I'm sorry about that… the last two days had been pretty rough…"

"I understand."

"Ah, I'm hungry… do you have anything to eat?"

"Yeah help yourself… Oh don't get alarmed… Naruto and Shikamaru are sleeping in the living room."

"Ok." Sakura crawled out of the bed and realized that she was in her underwear and sports bra. Well… at least she wasn't naked…. She found her shorts on the floor on her side but her shirt was nowhere to be found. She grumbled something about picking up bad habits from her late sensei as she stepped in her shorts and pulled them up and left the bedroom. She found Shikamaru snoozing on the couch and instantly whacked Naruto when the idiot tried to steal a pillow from him.

"Ow…" the blond hissed and rubbed his head then looked up at the rosette. They both blush a little as they looked at each other in silence. Naruto only had a pair of boxers on… and Sakura was shirtless. She cleared her throat and walked past him and into the kitchen. She poured herself a bowl of cereal and sat at the table to eat quietly in thought. Her peace was short-lived of course, as Naruto joined her at the table.

"Sakura-chan?"

"Yes, Naruto?"

"Can we talk about the other night night?"

"No."

"Uh… Why not?"

"There's nothing to discuss."

"Bull shit!" Naruto shot up causing the chair to kick over. "You can't just kiss someone and pretend it never happened!"

"Nothing happened!" Sakura shot up from her chair to face him head on even if her face was red.

"Like hell, nothing happened! Now tell me, what is going on with you? First thing you act like you're going to beat the crap out of me, then you kiss me, and now you just pretend it never happened?! How do you think that makes me feel, Sakura? You're making me crazy!"

"I don't have to explain anything to you!" When she said that comment, Sakura was thrown down onto the kitchen table with a loud thud. Her green eyes widened in shock as Naruto stared down at her with those beautiful blue depths with such intensity that made her whole body tingle. He was angry…

"We've been friends for so long and we've even lived together long enough to know a lot about each other, Sakura. We're best friends…. Tell me WHY?!" She could hear the hurt in his voice as he loomed over her on the table. Her heart felt like it was going to explode from the heated conversation or with his legs between hers, she didn't know. She felt a burning sensation in her eyes… _don't cry…_

"I don't want to lose you, too…" There she said it… but she has to explain it now. "Naruto-kun, you are the most important person to me… I've lost almost everyone I care about… if I carry on with what happened the other night… If I lost you… I would break…" She couldn't stop the tears from spilling out of her eyes.

"Sakura-chan…" Seeing his best friend spill her heart out in front of him caused Naruto to start brimming tears. He didn't want the girl to see him like this but he was a sensitive person… "Sakura, I'm not going anywhere… and you know it. I'm not going to let you push me away anymore… I don't care if you don't like it." Her face started to turn crimson red when he leaned his own blushing face down slowly. Her heart was pounding and she suddenly forgot how to breathe when his lips started to ghost over hers.

"Don't mind me…" Shikamaru sang as he past them in the kitchen to fish two cold beers out of the fridge. Naruto shouted in surprise and flew back flat against a wall with saucer-sized eyes. They watched the jounin whistle joyfully as he shut the fridge and walked back into the living room. He went further though, opening Temari's bedroom door and shutting it behind him.

"Ummmm…." Sakura sat up confused. "Why did he go in Temari's room?" she asked.

"Hahahaha, well um, they are like….. uh.. you know…" Naruto pressed his two index fingers together while chuckling.

"Are you serious?!" she gasped.

"Yeah, I caught them sucking face yesterday."

"Wow…"

"WHAT THE HELL?!" Naruto and Sakura turned their heads back over to Temari's door to hear the argument.

"Don't be such a pain in the ass…"

"Get out of here!"

"Now we both know you don't mean that… don't be so troublesome."

"I'll show you how troublesome I can be if you don't GET OUT!"

Shikamaru stumbled out the door with projectile objects pelting him in the head, including the cans of beer. He was grateful that he shut the door in time before the hairdryer was thrown. He sighed heavily and mumbled something about troublesome women before going outside for a smoke. Sakura then turned to Naruto again.

"Well… she was all over him yesterday…" he grinned. "I guess you two have something in common!"

"NARUTO!!!!" Sakura threw her cereal spoon at his head like a kunai knife but he dodged it. The little rascal seems to be more on guard with her angry lash outs lately. She began to think that he makes her mad on purpose just for fun.

"You make me angry on purpose, don't you?!" She fumed.

"Well, yeah! You're so cute when you're mad!" He grinned his fox-like grin and hightailed it out of there before she had the chance to kill him.


End file.
